


trapped under a cardboard box

by krystian



Series: Unfamiliar Cadence [6]
Category: Code Vein (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Dweller in the Dark | Good Ending (Code Vein), F/M, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Protagonist (Code Vein), Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23463214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krystian/pseuds/krystian
Summary: Snippets of Eva and Jack's life together over time; as they get to know each other, get to trust each other.
Relationships: Eva Roux/Jack Rutherford
Series: Unfamiliar Cadence [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668760
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	trapped under a cardboard box

**Author's Note:**

> me, writing something that isnt 2nd person pov? am i evolving? no
> 
> You joke about evil miku's feet, like, one time on the discord server and suddenly everyone there thinks you're a foot fetishist.  
> okay, maybe i deserved it. still doesnt mean im a foot fetishist :(
> 
> Anyhow; to prove them wrong i wrote this, a story which ISN'T about feet. 
> 
> title is taken from [Bird Song](https://youtu.be/IKuFy9ayQrg) by Florence + The Machine, and the story is also inspired by it. can't listen to the song anymore though

Nights were darkest out here. Nothing but the lone lights of broken streetlamps, flickering ever so slightly and always so, _so_ afraid of fading away into the nothingness that was the world around them.

Nothing but the stars against the black sky, a canvas speckled with pinpricks of white and yellow and blue, twinkling dimly.

Nothing but a lost firefly, all on its own and on the brink of death, sighing out its soul with a last, pitiful beat of its shimmering, glittering wings.

The park bench was cold beneath her; not uncomfortably so, but rather a reminder of her current predicament. Eva hummed to herself – it was comforting to do so, it made the nights less lonely as the fresh night air weighed on her shoulders, constricted her chest and made her choke on nothing.

Not that she was alone. There were Revenants around her. There always were, but now they were so close that she could smell the sweat and the grime and the blood. They were talking about her, she knew that, but she made no motions of acknowledging them. It was best to ignore them as much as possible and then they’d leave her alone, surely.

It didn’t mean that she liked what they were saying, though. She shifted on her seat, pressing her nails into the soft flesh of her palm to suppress their subtle shaking.

It wasn’t that she was terribly afraid of them; the woman merely made her uncomfortable. She was the worst of them, truly.

Just as she opened her mouth to let her voice fill the empty night air again, to let it echo and reverberate in the open area, the woman stepped behind her, catching her chin in a vice-like grip. Her hands felt rough, calloused, uncomfortable on Eva’s soft skin. Forcefully, she turned Eva’s head to the side, disdainfully staring at her with unconcealed dislike in her eyes. “Ugh, you’re so annoying! Stop that ear-splitting racket!”

Eva, however much she wanted to, didn’t try to get rid of her grip but just stared into the Revenant’s eyes, head tilted back at a painful angle. Her mouth opened on its own, and she let her voice ring out. The Revenant grated her teeth, tightening her grip on Eva’s chin. “Fuckin’ wench.” Shooting one last look at Eva’s attire, the Revenant suddenly let go, and subconsciously, Eva’s hand shot up to her chin, massaging it. “We’re taking her with us, and that’s that. If she’s more trouble than worth, I’m sure we’ll find a way to deal with her.”

The other Revenants that had come with the woman nodded, one of them grabbing her by the arm.

She had a really bad feeling about this.

* * *

It could be worse. She could be out there, getting ripped apart by the Lost, limb by limb, or slowly starving to death as she ravaged the destroyed city for food.

At least she was safe here; safe from the outside. Safe from everything but her own _saviours_.

Most of the time, it was just the female Revenant, the one that had found and brought her here. She dropped by pretty often, lounging outside of the bars that kept their precious livestock in and staring at Eva with dislike in her eyes.

Well, at first it had been dislike. But then the dislike had turned into contempt and then finally hatred, until her eyes burnt with a thousand different emotions, none of which were good. She’d get impatient, rapidly tapping her feet on the ground as she’d listen to Eva sing, a dangerously neutral expression on her face.

It was like any other day.

Eva didn’t know how long she’d already been here; a few days, a few weeks, maybe even a few months. It was impossible to tell; not that it mattered to her.

The female Revenant – she had never introduced herself, and Eva hadn’t asked either – stood in front of the cell, her eyes tracking Eva’s every moment. Her body didn’t move to the music, her fast-paced tapping was completely off-rhythm.

She opened the cell with a key around her neck, stepping into the narrow space and closing the door behind her. Her footsteps echoed in the basement, heavy and imposing. Coming to a halt in front of Eva, she crouched down to match her height, eyes squinting at the other girl in the dim light of the broken lamps above.

For a second, her breath got caught in her throat and she choked, coughed. The Revenant smirked condescendingly, but in an instant her voice was back, louder than ever before, and the woman flinched, losing her poise and landing on her butt, flustered. “You-“

She interrupted herself, grinding her teeth together, her eyes burning so bright that it hurt to look at them. Grabbing Eva by her arm, she dragged her up, her nails digging painfully into the soft flesh. “You fuckin’-“ Again she interrupted herself. Snarling at Eva, face contorted into one of fury and nails piercing her pale skin, she pushed Eva against the stone wall, effectively trapping her there.

And above Eva’s din, she hissed something between clenched teeth.

“That’s the last song you’ll ever sing.”

She placed her hands around Eva’s slender neck, a little hesitant at first, and squeezed. Not much, but enough to hurt, enough to make her gasp for air, enough for her to lash out at the other and claw at her arms. But the woman just looked on indifferently, without a single care in the world, tightened her grip on Eva’s neck, even broke out into a grin as she saw Eva’s wide eyes, marred with fear and confusion.

Pressing down harder and harder, with more power than a normal human should ever be able to possess _(not that she was human in the first place),_ her face was mere inches away from Eva’s own, her warm breath, reeking of brandy and blood, hot on Eva’s cheek. “I’ll teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”

Her hands, still curled around Eva’s throat, were cold, and with every raspy breath Eva desperately tried to suck into her lungs, she gained confidence. “What, little birdie? Don’t like this? Well,-“ she squeezed harder, shook off Eva’s hands ripping at her clothes- “then why don’t ya say so? Or sing us a little song about your misery, huh?”

Tears were starting to well up in her eyes, trailing down her cheeks no matter how hard she tried to suppress them, no matter how hard she tried not to show any sign of weakness in front of her tormentor. Eva gasped for air, tried to kick the Revenant away, dug her nails into the woman’s hands, but to no avail. She overpowered her without trying too hard, held Eva down as her nimble fingers found Eva’s larynx, pressed down.

It hurt.

It hurt so terribly much.

Finally, _finally_ the woman let up; her arms fell to her side, limp, and she stepped back, watching as Eva slid down the wall, clutching her throat. She sneered, spitting next to Eva. “Hopefully you’ve learnt your lesson.” With that, she turned around, strode out of the room as if this wasn’t her business.

Hands protectively curled around her own throat, not pressing down but rather feeling the tender skin, Eva opened her mouth, sucked in the air she had missed so much; she was completely winded, and every breath she took sounded rattling in her chest. Coughing and bending over, her hair hung in front of her face, dirtied and tousled.

It hurt.

She tried to speak up, to cry out for help _(not that there was any),_ but no sound emerged, not a single one.

_She couldn’t talk._

More frantic this time, she opened her mouth wider, willed her throat to work as tears welled up in her eyes once again, as her body shook with the exhaustion of the day, of every day before this one.

_She was mute._

This couldn’t be happening. Not to her. Not now.

_Not when music was all she’d had left._

On all fours, she crawled over to one corner of the room, hugged her knees close to her chest and curled into herself as much as she could. Body shivering, she rested her tear-stained face on her knees.

Sitting there like that, the darkness engulfed her.

* * *

The female Revenant came more often now that Eva couldn’t talk anymore.

Her spiteful gaze followed her everywhere – not that Eva did much. Most of the time, she was just sitting on the cold ground, watching the world through a curtain of her straggly hair.

The woman seemed to take great relish in watching her, grinning at Eva. “Y’know,” she said conversationally, tipping her bottle to the side so that a small amount of liquid splashed over, “had a dream about ya, girlie. Ya were singing again, y’know? And we can’t have that, obviously.” She laughed, high pitched, and inspected her nails, not even sparing Eva a second glance. “So of course I had to check up on ya.”

She chuckled again. “But you’re still as mute as ever, aren’t ya?” Getting up, she rapped her knuckles against the bars of the cell, creating a metallic sound. “You’re nothing. Don’t think anyone even cares about what happened to you. You should be grateful that we saved you back then, honestly.”

When Eva made no motions of acknowledging her, she tsk-ed, turning away. “Then sulk all ya want. In the end you’ll come crawling back like everyone else.”

* * *

Then, one day, the man came along.

The man with the white hair and the serious look on his face. The man whose hands were so kind and caring, whose eyes were full of humane warmth that she hadn’t experienced in s _o long._

She opened her mouth to call out to him-

_but she couldn’t scream and she couldn’t shout._

_No sound was coming from her mouth._

But the man understood nonetheless. Kneeling down next to her, his jacket billowing out around him, he looked at her, reached out, but drew his hand away from her when she flinched back. “Are you alright?” He asked. She looked up at him with big, fearful eyes, and he shook his head slightly. A fringe covered one of his eyes. “You can’t talk, can you? Looks like your throat’s been crushed.”

Self-consciously, she raised her hand to her throat, feeling the skin there. It wasn’t bruised anymore, nothing should show the damage. The man tried anew, and this time she didn’t shake him off when he placed a hand on her shoulder. It was warm; warm and heavy. “Don’t worry. Everything will be alright… I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

Maybe-

Maybe she could trust him. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as the other Revenants. He certainly didn’t look bad; a little serious maybe, but… she nodded, watching as a small smile played around the corners of his mouth. It was barely there, nothing more than the shadow of a smile.

“I’m Jack. Jack Rutherford,” he introduced himself, helping her up and supporting her, “I’m sorry, but I have neither pen nor paper with me, so I hope you don’t mind if we postpone your introduction a little.”

She didn’t mind.

Smiling at him, at least as much as she could manage, Eva leaned onto him, let him lead her outside into the light of the sun she hadn’t seen in so long, the feeling of the breeze on her skin.

Jack’s arm was warm around her, and she held onto him as if her life depended on it. She didn’t ask what happened to the Revenants that had captured her, and Jack didn’t look like he wanted to explain it to her either.

Silence settled around them, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Eva didn’t mind.

* * *

Jack’s head was resting in her lap and, absentmindedly, she ran her fingers through his hair, detangled the white locks and twirled them around her fingers. His face was contorted. Finally, he sighed and stirred, eyes opening and staring up at her with an unfocused look in them. “Eva,” he croaked out, clearing his throat shortly after.

She only smiled back, shifted a little so he would be more comfortable. “You’re awake again,” she noted, cupping his cheek with the palm of her hand and leaning down to press a chaste kiss to his forehead.

Grumbling, he grabbed her hand and lightly squeezed it, sitting up afterwards. “It would seem so. How long was I out?”

“Not for too long. A few hours at most.” She chuckled, squeezing back. “I wish you’d sleep a little more, Jack. You need the rest.”

He shook his head, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and stretching a little, his joints popping. The room they were in was desolate, run down. Still more than enough, though. “So do you.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder, fiddling with her hands in her lap. “Oh Jack,” she sighed, feeling his chest rise and fall with every breath he took. “It’s about them, isn’t it? The Revenants back there in the cathedral?”

He made no motions, neither shaking his head nor nodding, but he didn’t need to. It was written on his face, clear as daylight.

“You knew them from somewhere, didn’t you?” She pried further, resting one of her hands on his shoulders; they tensed up beneath her fingers.

Finally, an answer. “Just one of them, really,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck and then letting his head fall into his hands. “I thought they were dead. I delivered the killing blow myself.”

“The Successor of the Blood?” Eva didn’t really need to ask, but she did either way. Better safe than sorry.

Nodding softly, he ran his hand through his hair one last time before getting up and strolling over to the window. “Yes. The kid was my subordinate during Operation Queenslayer. They shouldn’t be here now.”

Eva chuckled, hiding her mouth with the back of her hand and standing up, joining Jack at the window. The area was as lonely and barren as she remembered it to be. Well, a little less lonely with Jack at her side. “But they are here now. Isn’t that good? It means they survived, and that you weren’t responsible for their death.”

He rested on hand against the windowpane, heaving a sigh. “I suppose so. Anyhow, we shouldn’t stay here for too long. We still have a job to do; now more than ever.”

She hummed in thought, leaning against him. “You’re right. Let’s get going.”

Everything was easier with Jack around.

* * *

Late at night was still Eva’s favourite time of day.

The home base was more often than not completely empty. Sometimes, Louis stuck around, reading a book or making plans for the coming days and sometimes the Queenslayer helped him with it, the two of them sharing timid smiles, hands touching when they both reached for a document at the same time. It was endearing to watch them dance around each other like that.

Right now, it was completely empty though. Sighing, she stepped into the hot springs, wrapping a towel tightly around her body, bare feet on the warm stone. Relaxing here at night had become somewhat of a habit; she just liked staring up at the dark night sky, lit up only by stars, for hours.

Sinking into the warm water, Eva felt her muscles relax as it washed over her body, eased at least some of her worries. The sounds of the night filled her mind, and she propped her arms up on the edge, stretching her legs out in front of her.

It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes until the curtain, parting the chapel from the hot springs, was pushed aside again, rustling quietly. Footsteps resounded behind her, and someone cleared their throat. “So here you are.”

She chuckled, turning around to face Jack. “Hello,” she greeted him, smiling. For once, he actually smiled back. It was hesitant, barely noticeable, but she could see his eyes light up.

He grumbled, holding the towel around his waist in place and stepping into the water himself, settling down next to her. As warm as the water was, it was nothing compared to the heat Jack seemed to emit, making her skin flush and colour rise to her cheeks.

They both stared at the dark horizon, lit up only dimly by the red mist and the stars. The night was warm, comfortable, and for the first time in a very long time, Eva felt something akin to hope well up inside her.

Jack beside her heaved a sigh, placing a hand on the nape of his neck and popping his joints. His other hand found hers beneath the water, fingers intertwining, nothing more than a soft, hesitant touch in the middle of the night.

Placing her head on his shoulder, she leaned into him, felt the tense muscles beneath his pale skin. Jack pulled her closer with his other hand, tangled it into her hair as he placed his chin atop of her head.

His hand was warm on her head, lightly playing with her hair as she rested against his chest, breathing in the scent that clung to him, cigars and brandy and that certain cologne he sometimes used, the one that the Queenslayer had given him a while ago, their eyes finding Eva’s and winking at her.

Their movements created ripples on the surface of the water as steam rose up into the sky, painting it white before disappearing into the darkness like another lost memory. Brushing through her silken locks with his fingers, Jack’s heartbeat underneath her fingers, splayed out on his chest, was as calm as ever. “Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Things will get better, I promise,” she let her fingers follow the scars on his body as his hand tightened in her hair, shaking ever so slightly.

He chuckled, broken. “They will. They have to.”

Smiling against his skin, she hugged him, slung her arms around his torso without squeezing, just letting him feel that she was there. “I’m sure. I can feel it.”

She could feel him nod slightly. “I trust you, Eva.”

* * *

It felt like a dream.

A good dream, but maybe that was the reason why she feared waking up from it.

_But it hadn’t been a dream._

It made her dizzy, thinking about what happened, thinking about what Io had done for them. She felt bad for the Queenslayer, their sorrowful eyes so dull as they wandered around the home base, only answering to Louis, and even that only now and then.

She watched them as they tried to deal with the burden Io’s sacrifice had placed on their shoulders, as they slowly regained their will to live and their eyes became lively again with every person that they talked to, that encouraged and thanked them for what they’d done, as they set out towards the red mist.

“Do you think it was the right choice? To let them go, I mean?” She asked Jack one evening as he nursed a glass of brandy at the bar. It always seemed so empty nowadays with only Davis and Coco checking in from time to time.

He shrugged, staring at the glass in his hand. “I don’t know. But I think that, whatever they might be doing right now, they’ll succeed. They’ve got a reliable team.”

Eva chuckled, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “Just as I’ve got you. But you’re right, I’m sure they’ll do great. And who knows, maybe they’ll come to visit sometime? Although we probably won’t be bored either without them around.”

Jack snorted. “I suppose so.” He pushed the glass aside and got up, offering her his hand without explanation.

Curiously, she cocked her head to the side, eyeing him. “What is it?” Nevertheless, she grabbed his hand, felt its warmth on her skin as their fingers intertwined.

“May I ask for a dance?” A smirk played around his lips as he bowed a little before pulling her closer to his body.

She laughed, quiet but as clear as birdsong. “You seem in a good mood today. But honestly, Jack – do you even need to ask?”

There was no music, nothing to give them a rhythm or the like, but Jack led her nonetheless, to a tune only they could hear. Moonlight filtered in through the stained glass windows, painting patterns on the floor and making their hair shimmer in the dim light.

Arms wrapped tightly around each other and breaths mingling, Jack softly grabbed her chin and tilted her head upwards. For a second, it reminded her of the female Revenant back then, but that thought was gone in an instant, replaced by Jack’s relaxed face in front of her as he leaned down, cupping the back of her head with his other hand.

His lips were warm on her own, warm and slightly chapped as they pressed down softly, hesitantly. He tasted sweet, a little like cigars and brandy, but it felt good. Her arms were slung around his neck, pulling him down a little more as she smiled against his lips, the melody always in the back of her mind.

Nights weren’t so dark out here anymore. Not when Jack was here with her, illuminating her entire world and shining as bright as Sirius up there in the night sky.

**Author's Note:**

> can't stop writing, can't stop and won't stop.  
> also, eva and jack best pairing, i wish them the best. pls be happy together
> 
> i've been having some trouble catching enough sleep lately, so sorry if this is... yeah.
> 
> It seems that, at last, I have been shattered.


End file.
